What should a small business in Canada budget for a website?

01Three worked budgets from published prices

Each column is an example small business, priced line by line from Redenn's price list, with every total computed from the same list. None of the totals include the domain (the registrar's live price plus CA$9.99 per year if Redenn manages it) or sales tax, and they assume Redenn hosts the site, which is optional.

The solo trade needs to be found and called, so one strong page with a phone link does the job. The clinic takes appointments and lives on trust, so it needs professional copy and booking. The contractor gets more inquiries than one person can answer, so the money goes into follow-up automation and a CRM rather than into more pages.

Where a site takes bookings, the example uses Redenn Dynamic, the hosting tier whose published fit includes booking, so the example does not under-price; if bookings live only in your existing calendar tool, Redenn Business may be enough. Prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude taxes. Any tax that applies is shown separately on your invoice. Usage (AI, call minutes, SMS, email) is billed by each provider directly to your own account; none is included in our prices. Ask about a trial period to see your real usage first.

02The three decisions that set your price

Page count is the first decision. Write the page names down before you talk to anyone: a page you cannot name is a page you do not need yet. Every standard page beyond the package is CA$49, so going from five pages to eight means three more pages at that price, not a new tier.

Content is the biggest swing. If you already have good copy, insertion is CA$29 per page. If you have rough notes, a rewrite is CA$49 per page. If you have nothing, professional copywriting is from CA$99 per page, and across five pages it is often the single largest line after the package itself.

Features are the third decision, and the rule is simple: only pay for a feature with a real process behind it. Booking (CA$99) makes sense if you take appointments today. A CRM makes sense if inquiries are already getting lost. Chat makes sense if someone will actually answer it, or if you use the AI Website Chat subscription from CA$99 per month, whose AI usage is billed by the provider directly to your own account.

03What to add first, and what to skip for now

The items below are ordered by how directly they turn a visitor into an inquiry. Everything in the second list can be added later without rebuilding anything.

• Add first: a spam-protected contact form (CA$29, included from Starter up) and a phone or WhatsApp link on every page.
• Add first: analytics and Search Console (CA$49 and CA$29, included from Starter up) so you can see what happens after launch.
• Add first: Search Setup (CA$99, included in Business and above) and a Google Business Profile link-up, because local customers search before they call.
• Skip for now: a blog (from CA$49) unless you will publish at least monthly.
• Skip for now: payment integration (from CA$99) if you invoice after the job.
• Skip for now: premium pages (from CA$99) and brand starter (from CA$199) if you already have a logo that works.

04When the CA$99 page is enough

The Launch site is enough when your business is simple to explain, your customers arrive by referral or by phone, and your immediate need is a credible address on the web that loads fast on a phone. It is not enough when you sell several distinct services that people search for separately, because each of those deserves its own page.

05Ongoing costs after launch

After year one the fixed costs are hosting and the domain. Redenn Lite is CA$99 per year for a static site and Redenn Business is CA$199 per year when the site handles forms and server rendering. The domain renews at the registrar's live price plus the CA$9.99 per year management fee if Redenn manages it.

Everything else is optional and should be judged on whether it pays for itself: Local Search Management from CA$299 per month for one location, AI Website Chat from CA$99 per month, the AI Receptionist from CA$149 per month. Usage (AI, call minutes, SMS, email) is billed by each provider directly to your own account; none is included in our prices. Ask about a trial period to see your real usage first.

06A budgeting checklist before you ask for quotes

Bring these answers to any provider, not only Redenn, and you will get a quote you can compare.

• The named list of pages you need in year one.
• Who is writing the copy, and whether photos exist or need to be taken.
• Which features have a real process behind them today: booking, payments, chat, newsletter.
• Whether you own the domain and who holds the registrar login.
• Whether you need to be found in one city, across a province or by AI search engines.
• Who will answer inquiries within the hour, and what happens when nobody can.